Maddocks: Experts accuse Patriots of showing them up by not running up the score

Philip Maddocks

Thursday

Nov 29, 2007 at 12:01 AMNov 29, 2007 at 2:39 AM

A group of vocal football experts who had been touting the greatness of the 2007 New England Patriots are now accusing the team of "trying to show them up" following an "undominating"31-28 victory over the mediocre Philadelphia Eagles Sunday night.

A group of vocal football experts who had been touting the greatness of the 2007 New England Patriots are now accusing the team of "trying to show them up" following an "undominating"31-28 victory over the mediocre Philadelphia Eagles Sunday night.

"That was totally inexcusable – to turn in a performance like that after many of us had graciously heaped our expert praise on this team," said one former player who specializes in delivering grudging respect for today’s teams and players to print and television outlets.

"Look I don’t mind them running up the score against other NFL teams. That’s their right, their objective as a merciless football machine. What I do mind is them not running up the score after I compare them to great teams from the past like the 1972 Miami Dolphins and the 1978 Pittsburgh Steelers. That’s just unprofessional in my opinion," said another expert.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick denied he was trying to show up the football experts by allowing a journeyman quarterback, the Eagles’ A.J. Feeley, to pick apart his team’s defense.

"I am not worried about what the experts say or what other teams say as long as we do something out there that upsets someone. That is something we have been able to do consistently all season. I think we succeeded in that objective again against the Eagles. And I expect we will continue to succeed at it for the rest of the season, although we don’t expect it to be easy," said the Patriots coach.

Many experts said they weren’t buying Belichick’s explanation, saying the Patriots’ performance was a personal affront to their analysishood.. They questioned the coach’s decision to allow his team to win the game even though it allowed a successful Eagles onside kick in the first half, missed a 32-yard field goal attempt in the second half, and was trailing going into the fourth quarter.

"I know he is the coach and he can do what he wants," said one expert, who until Sunday counted himself among Belichick’s staunchest supporters. "But what he did against the Eagles reflects badly on the game’s experts. You can’t allow any team, even one as good as the Patriots, to flaunt what every expert understands to be the rules of winning in this league. To do so makes a mockery of what we say and the NFL needs to do something to stop it."

A few of the Eagles players were put off by New England’s tactics en route to narrowly defeating them.

"This is probably my most disappointing moment as a professional player," said one Philadelphia starter. "It’s just embarrassing. One of the most dominating teams in NFL history was only able to beat our pathetic squad by three points. It’s going to take a while to get over this one. I just hope those guys can look the experts in the eye and be proud of what they did."

But Philadelphia coach Andy Reid refused to fault Belichick for his choice not to dominate his team Sunday.

"I don’t have any problem with what they did," he said.

"We just try to execute what the coach tells us to do," explained Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel, who had two interceptions, one in the first quarter that he ran back for a touchdown and another late in the fourth quarter that helped seal New England’s victory. "The coach told me to go out and make an interception and that’s what I did."

"That’s the kind of game we needed," said Patriots linebacker and defensive captain Tedy Bruschi. "Now the rest of the league knows that we can win even if we only score 31 points."

Several experts defended Belichick’s tactics, saying that trying to show up experts such as themselves is not only permissible but laudable.

"This is just what the Patriots should be doing – embarrassing and confusing the experts," argued one. "Let’s face it, this expert analysis game is one played by well-paid professionals. If the experts don’t like what New England is doing, then try to stop talking about them."

Philip Maddocks can be reached a pmaddock@cnc.com.

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